Inter-Firm Cooperation and Collaboration in Shipper—Shipping Company Relationships for Enhancing Sustainability

Chang-Soo Kim, John Dinwoodie and Young-Joon Seo
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Chang-Soo Kim: Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of South Korea, Sejong-si 30110, Korea
John Dinwoodie: Plymouth Business School, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK
Young-Joon Seo: School of Economics & Trade, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehak-ro, Buk-gu, Daegu 41566, Korea

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 10, 1-19

Abstract: This paper aims to reveal the relationship between cooperation, trust, and sustainability, and to uncover whether cooperation, trust, and sustainability is nested within collaboration in shipper–shipping company relationships. Structural equation modeling identified that cooperation has a positive effect on trust, which partially mediates the impact of cooperation on sustainability. Sub-constructs of cooperation included transparency, fairness, and mutuality. Fairness is the prime antecedent of trust, and developing fairness can create more effective and high-quality relationships among firms. A fuller theoretical model reveals how inter-firm cooperation may progress to collaboration, and why transparency does not necessarily lead to trust.

Keywords: inter-firm cooperation; inter-firm collaboration; trust; sustainability; shipper; shipping industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:10:p:3714-:d:175978

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